Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, whose company makes Fortnite and tools for other developers, including Unreal Engine, called out Apple and Google as “gangster-style businesses” engaged in illegal practices while speaking at a Y Combinator event on Wednesday. The executive also emphasized how the big tech companies’ practices directly affected his own business by scaring away users from installing Epic’s Games Store software and preventing Epic from attracting developers to its offerings.
Notably, Epic Games has played a big role in the fight against big tech monopolies over the past several years.
The company sued both Apple and Google for monopolistic practices over their respective app stores. Epic won its case with Google but not with Apple. However, the court did require Apple to open up to more competition by forcing a change to its App Store rules. The court said app developers should now be able to link to other purchasing mechanisms besides Apple’s own. (Unfortunately for app developers, Epic is still battling with Apple in the courts over this change, as it alleges that Apple violated the court order by allowing developers to process their own payments, but only with a small, 3% reduction in commission, which doesn’t make it worth their while.)
On stage, Sweeney again called out the big tech companies for their practices and their “malicious compliance” with the courts’ decisions.
“The sad truth is that Apple and Google are no longer good faith, law-abiding companies,” Sweeney said. “They’re run, in many ways, as gangster-style businesses that will do anything they think they can get away with. If they think that the fine is going to be cheaper than the lost revenue from an illegal practice, they always continue the illegal practice and pay the fine.”
The gaming executive pointed to how the tech companies’ practices hurt his business.
For instance, when users on Android try to install the Epic Games Store on their smartphone, Google warns them that the software is from an “unknown source” and might harm their device. This “scare screen,” as Sweeney calls it, is meant to warn users about the dangers of installing non-Play Store apps. But he says the screen results in 50-60% of users abandoning their attempt to install the software.
A similar drop-off rate is found on iOS. In Europe, the Epic Games Store is allowed thanks to new regulations, but Apple displays a warning to users who try to install it. Again, this leads to drop-off rates of 50-60%, Sweeney said.
He calls the use of these screens “textbook self-preferencing,” noting that the companies are “getting away with it.”
“Crime pays for big tech companies,” he said. “Obviously, we shouldn’t expect that to change until enforcement becomes much, much more vigorous,” he told the audience.
In addition, the Fortnite exec said that because of the friction and the associated fees with third-party app stores on iOS, no major game developers has been willing to distribute games through the Epic Game Store. Instead of its usual 30% fee, Apple reduces the fee but collects a “core technology fee” of 50 cents per install per year for any app with more than 1 million downloads.
“Unless your app is enormously high grossing per user, any free-to-play game is largely dissuaded from that,” Sweeney explained. “It’s too expensive for them. Apple would bankrupt them if they did that.”
He did note that the Epic Games Store on iOS has managed to attract some back-catalog games. Meanwhile, the Android version will open up to developer submissions later this year, which Sweeney hopes will boost the catalog further.
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Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, Tumblr, WooCommerce, and a range of other online services, is reducing its workforce. The layoffs will impact 16% of staff across divisions, an Automattic blog post published Wednesday reveals.
Ahead of the layoffs, Automattic’s website listed 1,744 employees, which means north of 270 people may have lost their jobs. (Automattic was asked to confirm this number but has not responded as of the time of publication.)
The post, which was also shared with company employees via Slack earlier on Wednesday, explains that this “restructuring” was necessary due to the competitive nature of the market and the speed with which technology is evolving.
However, the move also comes after a tumultuous year for Automattic, which has engaged in a controversial legal battle with hosting company WP Engine. The ongoing drama already led to the departure of some Automattic employees last fall. In Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg’s opinion, hosting provider WP Engine did not sufficiently contribute to the open source project WordPress.org, and its use of the “WP” brand was confusing consumers about its affiliation with WordPress itself.
In Wednesday’s announcement, Mullenweg explained that the newly announced layoffs will allow Automattic to become “more agile and responsive,” “break down silos that have created inefficiencies,” “focus on product quality,” and “ensure a viable financial model for long-term success.”
“To support our customers and products, we must improve our productivity, profitability, and capacity to invest,” reads the post, authored by Mullenweg.
The layoffs will impact employees across 90 countries, who will receive a severance package and job placement assistance, among other things.
“Automattic has multiple products with world-touching potential in WordPress and beyond. I’m confident we will come out of this situation in a better position, poised to create a vibrant, profitable, well-designed company that will continue our mission to democratize the internet,” Mullenweg wrote.
TechCrunch sources told us that the layoffs were effective immediately, meaning people received an email and then immediately lost access to Slack. The layoffs include some longtime employees who have been with the company for north of a decade, we understand.
The news follows Automattic’s cancellation of its annual “Grand Meetup” company retreat for 2025, a source also told us.
Sarah Perez can be reached at @sarahperez.01 on Signal and [email protected]
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TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has been at the center of controversy in the U.S. for four years now due to concerns about user data potentially being accessed by the Chinese government. Earlier this year, the app experienced a temporary outage in the U.S. that left millions of users in suspense before it was quickly restored.
TikTok returned to the App Store and Google Play Store in February.
Nonetheless, TikTok’s future remains uncertain, and a potential second ban on April 5 is looming. A number of investors are competing for the opportunity to purchase the app, and if a deal were to go through, the platform’s U.S. business could have its valuation soar to upward of $60 billion, as estimated by CFRA Research’s senior vice president, Angelo Zino.
To fully understand this high-stakes drama, we’ll first revisit the timeline of TikTok’s tumultuous relationship with the U.S. government, which resulted in various legal battles and negotiations.
The drama first began in August 2020, when Trump signed an executive order to ban transactions with parent company ByteDance.
A month later, Trump’s administration sought to force a sale of TikTok’s U.S. operations to a U.S.-based company. The leading contenders included Microsoft, Oracle, and Walmart. However, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order, allowing TikTok to continue operating while the legal battle unfolded.
Things began to progress even more last year following the transition to the Biden administration. The U.S. House of Representatives, in an overwhelming 360-58 vote, passed the legislation against TikTok. On April 23, 2024, the Senate passed the bill.
Shortly after, President Joe Biden signed the bill requiring TikTok to be sold or banned. In response, TikTok sued the U.S. government, challenging the constitutionality of the ban and arguing the app and its American users were having their First Amendment rights violated. The company has consistently denied that it poses a security threat, asserting that its data stored in the U.S. complies with all local laws.
On December 27, 2024, Trump opposed the potential ban of TikTok in a court filing, stating he could find a way to keep the app in the U.S. This stance was a stark contrast to his approach during his first presidency and presented a surprising turn of events for TikTok.
In January, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA), commonly referred to as “the TikTok ban.” TikTok made a formal announcement that it would likely have to go dark on January 19.
Although TikTok indeed shut itself down in the U.S. when the act came into effect, it didn’t last long. The app came back online less than 12 hours later. The platform noted, “As a result of President Trump’s efforts, TikTok is back in the U.S.”
On January 20, Trump signed an executive order that postponed the TikTok ban for 75 days. This extension provides the app with additional time to either sell a stake in the platform or reach an agreement with Trump. His goal is to achieve a 50-50 ownership arrangement between ByteDance and a U.S. company.
More recently, in early March, Trump told reporters that his administration was in talks with four different groups that are interested in buying the platform, per Reuters.
No definitive deal has been reached yet for the sale of the platform, but we could find out very soon.
Below is a list of the investor groups and companies rumored to be potential buyers of TikTok’s U.S. operations. (Surprisingly, Elon Musk is not among them.)
The People’s Bid for TikTok is a consortium organized by Project Liberty founder Frank McCourt, who is also the former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Investment firm Guggenheim Securities and the law firm Kirkland & Ellis are helping to assemble the bid. The main mission of The People’s Bid to acquire TikTok is to prioritize privacy and data control, taking an open source approach.
Supporters involved include:
Jesse Tinsley, the CEO and founder of Employer.com, is leading a consortium of American investors. Last month, Tinsley announced a $30 billion all-cash offer to acquire TikTok’s U.S. operations.
The story has been updated after publication to include new interested parties.
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Amazon has submitted a bid to acquire all of TikTok, according to a new report from The New York Times. The last-minute bid comes as TikTok faces an April 5 deadline to shed its Chinese ownership or face a ban in the U.S. However, the parties involved in the deal talks do not appear to be taking Amazon’s bid seriously, according to The Times’ report.
President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet with officials to discuss the app’s fate on Wednesday. Trump said earlier this week that a deal with TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell the app will be finalized before the April 5 deadline.
On Tuesday, Financial Times reported that Andreessen Horowitz is in talks to invest in TikTok as part of an Oracle-led bid that includes other American investors interested in purchasing the app.
Last week, Reuters reported that private equity firm Blackstone is considering joining ByteDance’s current non-Chinese shareholders, led by Susquehanna International Group and General Atlantic, in providing fresh capital to bid for TikTok’s U.S. operations.
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Patreon, a subscription platform for online creators, is ge has signed podcasting partnerships with Sony Music Entertainment and Amazon’s Wondery, the company announced on Wednesday.
Patreon says the partnerships are designed to make the site a home to fan engagement and exclusive perks for shows from major podcast networks, as the company looks to expand beyond its current base of podcasts.
The deal means that Patreon will now offer some of the podcasting industry’s big names on its platform. The addition of bigger partners will allow Patreon to stand out among other platforms that also support podcasts. As for Sony and Wondery, the partnership allows them to bring their content to more people to expand the reach of their podcasts.
As a result of the partnerships, select podcasts from Sony Music and Wondery will be available on Patreon, including: “Getting Better with Jonathan Van Ness,” “Lipstick on the Rim,” and “This Is History” from Sony Music; and “Scamfluencers,” “Killer Psyche,” and “Kurt Krömer – Feelings” from Wondery.
Patreon said podcasters on its platform earned over $472 million from over 6.7 million paid memberships last year, making podcasting the single highest-earning category of creativity on the platform.
“From independent shows to networks, podcasters are choosing Patreon because it’s a place where they can share their work directly with their audiences, reach new fans, deepen connections with existing members, manage their businesses, and ultimately earn more money – all under one roof,” the company wrote in a blog post.
Patreon plans to add more podcasting partners in the future, it says.
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Zelle is shutting down its stand-alone app on Tuesday, according to a company blog post.
This news might be alarming if you’re one of the over 150 million customers in the U.S. who use Zelle for person-to-person payments. But only about 2% of transactions take place via Zelle’s app, which is why the company is discontinuing its stand-alone app.
Most consumers access Zelle via their bank, which then allows them to send money to their phone contacts. Zelle users who relied on the stand-alone app will have to re-enroll in the service through another financial institution.
Given the small user base of the Zelle app, it makes sense why the company would decide to get rid of it — maintaining an app takes time and money, especially one where people’s financial information is involved.
Zelle launched in 2017 with backing from 30 banks to be a more efficient alternative to Venmo. On Venmo, users can receive payments into their own Venmo wallet, which they can then deposit into their actual bank account — but if you don’t want to wait a few days for the deposit to process, you’ll have to pay a fee for an instant transfer. Because of Zelle’s connections with banks, it’s able to offer instant transfers without charging additional fees.
Zelle said that in 2024, users sent $1 trillion in payments, breaking the record of any other payment app. This might be the case because consumers tend to use Zelle for larger payments like rent. Venmo, on the other hand, is designed for more social use, like reimbursing a friend for dinner.
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